"I don't have money to cure you!"
With a snap, the phone call was abruptly ended and the screen of the mobile phone went dark.
I held the phone so tightly that my fingertips turned pale from exertion, and I sat weakly on the floor of the hospital.
I had no tears in my eyes and I just felt cold all over. My mind went blank, only my mother's words kept repeating.
A few days ago, I fainted at my workplace because of continuous overtime. When I woke up in the hospital, I suddenly received a phone call from my mother. She sounded anxious and only said, "It's a matter of life and death. Hurry up and send money." Then she hurriedly hung up the phone.
When I reacted and called again, I couldn't get through.
I was so anxious, afraid that something might happen at home. I hastily put together 70,000 dollars from the money I had saved since I had been working for a year. Worried that it wouldn't be enough, I borrowed another 30,000 dollars from a friend, sending a total of 100,000 dollars to my mother.
I just transferred the money and she immediately received it.
I quickly called to find out what happened at home, but no one answered the phone, and nobody answered my messages.
I forced myself to calm down. I remembered that Uncle's family was very close to our house, so I hurriedly called Uncle, but Uncle told me that nothing had happened at home.
I was not reassured and begged him to go home and take a look.
Although Uncle was impatient, he still agreed to go and have a look.
After confirming that there was really nothing wrong at home, I felt relieved, but I began to wonder why my mom called for so much money.
Soon, I knew the answer.
The next day, I saw my brother posting a property certificate on Instagram, with the caption: 24/Downtown/160 square meters/Fully Paid.
I, who was working overtime at the company, felt my blood rush to my head and blacked out.
When I woke up again, my colleague had already sent me to the hospital.
I thought I had just fainted from anger. Seeing my worried colleague sitting next to the hospital bed, I was very embarrassed and quickly said, "I am fine and can be discharged now."
My colleague, however, rushed to stop me from getting up and hesitated, saying, "Nico, why don't you call your family?"
Seeing her expression, I realized something was wrong and pushed her aside to go straight to the doctor's office.
The doctor had wanted me to notify my family, but when I told him that I couldn't reach them, he sighed and told me that there was something in my brain. But there was nothing to worry about. Further tests would be done and if it was benign, the surgery would have a high success rate.
I asked the doctor how much the surgery would cost, and he said it wouldn't be much. 60,000 to 70,000 dollars would be enough after all the expenses were added up and reimbursed.
Listening to the doctor's words, my mood was like riding a roller coaster, and now it has finally settled a bit.
I thanked the doctor, then came out to call my mom to explain the situation. After a few days, the call finally went through. I thought that my mom would be worried about me, come to take care of me, and reassure me.
But, my mom didn't even wait for me to finish speaking before interrupting me impatiently, "Nico, are you jealous of me buying a house for your brother?"
"You're such a wicked-minded girl, willing to curse yourself just to ask me for money."
"I don't have any money. I spent all my money on buying a house for your brother!"
"I don't have money to cure you! You deserve to die."
...
Although I knew that my parents had some traditional thoughts favoring sons over daughters, I never expected my own mother to say such malicious words to me.
Chapter 2 MemoriesWhen I was very young, I didn't realize that my parents were biased.
I remembered that my family had always been poor, so my brother and I didn't seem to get much extra favor in material things compared to me. Although life was difficult at that time, I felt that my parents loved me and my brother equally.
When I was a child, I always wore shabby clothes and was teased. My mom told me not to compare myself with others in terms of food and clothing, but to compare myself with them in terms of studying.
I took this sentence to heart at a young age and studied particularly hard, so I was always at the top of the class from childhood.
But when my parents talked about me to others, they always said, "A girl having good grades when she is young is useless. She can only study hard, but won't be able to do anything in the future. Unlike her brother, he is smart. Although he is not good at studying now, he will be able to achieve great things in the future."
Relatives all nodded in agreement, except for my aunt, who always had a disdainful look on her face.
At that time, I didn't understand the hidden meaning of my parents' words. I just thought that I wasn't doing well enough, so I studied even harder.
It wasn't until when I went to the high school that I found out my parents were biased. They spent a lot of money and went to great lengths to send my brother, who was doing poorly in his studies, to the best high school in the area and enrolled him in various special classes. On the other hand, even though I could have attended the best high school in the county based on my grades, my dad insisted on sending me to another high school in a rural town. It was only because that rural high school promised to waive my tuition for three years, and also provide me with an additional 200 dollars in monthly living expenses based on my good grades.
Mom and Dad told me that it was because I was smart and a good student, and that I could get into a good college anywhere. But if they didn't send my brother to a good school or enroll him in special classes, he wouldn't be able to get into college. And since I had grown up, I should reduce the burden on the family. Other girls from other families had already graduated from junior high and gone south to work. I should be grateful that they were willing to send me to high school.
At that time, I felt uncomfortable but I also felt that what they said made sense. I should depend on myself to study and I should help to reduce the burden on my family.
Later, when I could go to a prestigious university outside the province, my dad secretly took the offer of a local university for me, claiming that he didn't want me, a girl, to be too far away from home and that the family would worry.
In college, my brother received monthly living expenses of 5000 dollars, while I only had 800 dollars. They said, "Your brother is a boy. He eats more and spends more. As a girl, why do you need so much money? If you really don't have enough, find a rich boyfriend."
I finally realized that my brother and I were different in my parents' eyes, so I consciously distanced myself from my family. Even though the university was very close to home, I hardly ever went back home in four years and chose to work part-time instead. And they stopped giving me living expenses after that argument I had with them.
After graduating from college, I went to the big city I had always wanted to go to without hesitation.
Because I had just graduated and had no savings, I shared a basement with my classmate. After eating instant noodles for a month, I finally received an offer from a prestigious company. The grievances after graduation were temporarily diluted by the joy of finding a job, and I was so excited that I wanted to call my family and tell them the news.
The phone rang for a long time, and my joy gradually cooled down in the beeping sound. Before I could speak after the call was connected, I heard my dad's cold voice, "I have no money. Don't come to me!" Then he hung up the phone.
After that, I never took the initiative to call home again. Of course, they never called me either.
But they made an urgent call that day.
Chapter 3 Surgery"Nico? Nico? Are you okay?"
The voice of my colleague brought me back to reality.
I regained my senses, took a deep breath, and forced a smile to reassure my colleague that I was fine.
After she left, I thought for a long time and finally gathered the courage to dial a number.
My trembling fingers indicated the anxiety in my heart at the moment. I had already borrowed from all the friends I could borrow from in the past two days. Now this phone call was my last hope and I wasn't even sure if I could get through.
Fortunately, the phone was quickly answered.
Within an hour, a beautiful woman with a permed hairstyle and professional attire appeared by my bedside, saying, "SweeGracert, long time no see."
The woman was my aunt Grace White who had strayed from her family and broken up with them ten years earlier.
When I first came to this city, Grace somehow found my contact information and told me to call her if I needed anything.
This was the first time I reached out to her.
"Aunt, you're here." I didn't expect her to come so quickly, so I hurriedly sat up to greet her. I felt a bit awkward facing a woman I hadn't seen in years.
I blushed red and finished the general situation with Grace, my fingers nervously pinching the hem of my shirt.
Grace's beautiful face gradually showed a hint of anger, and her eyes looked at me with a mix of concern. "Darling, don't worry. They don't want you, but I do. We will be fine and healthy."
A few days later, the test results came out and it was benign.
When the doctor told us the results, Grace seemed even more nervous than me, but she smiled and held my hand to comfort me, pretending to be calm. It was only when she heard that it was benign that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That afternoon, Grace went to the doctor and agreed on a date for the operation and paid the necessary fees for me.
I wrote her an IOU, but she didn't accept it. She just told me to rest and recover.
Soon, it was the day of the operation.
Grace came early in the morning to accompany me and told me not to be afraid.
When I woke up from anesthesia, it was already evening. Grace was lying on the side of my bed asleep, with moonlight pouring in through the window and shining on her. I couldn't help but raise my hand and try to touch her back.
As far as I could remember, I had never received such attentive care from my mom. I remembered when I had a high fever when I was a child, I was so dizzy that I couldn't walk steadily. I begged my mom to take me to the clinic for an injection, but she just threw me my ID while lying in bed watching TV, asking me to go by myself. To this day, I still remembered walking to the clinic holding onto the wall a little bit. The usual two-minute walk seemed to be as long as two centuries that day. I didn't even remember if I fainted on the way.
Feeling my movement, Grace woke up immediately.
She raised her head, looking a bit tired, "Sweetie, you finally woke up. How are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable anywhere? The doctor said the surgery was successful. After a few days of observation, you can be discharged right away if there's no problem!"
I stared at Grace, tears streaming down my face.
I didn't cry when I knew I was sick, and I didn't cry when my mom told me to go to hell But now, seeing Grace's caring face, I couldn't help but burst into tears.
Seeing me crying, Grace panicked, "What's wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable? Let me call the doctor for you."
I quickly grabbed her hand which was about to press the button, "Aunt, I'm fine. I'm just so happy to see you here."
After saying that, the two of us stared at each other and burst into laughter.
"You scared me!" Grace scolded.